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Stars and Stripes: Patients’ Survey
At Dover AFB Indicates Anthrax Vaccine Ills
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Loadmaster directs fuel truck from C-5 at Dover.
Patients’ Survey At Dover AFB Indicates Anthrax Vaccine Ills
Feb 23, 2001
Dave Eberhart
Stars and Stripes Veterans Affairs Editor
Unhappy with the official system for reporting adverse reactions to the Anthrax vaccine, servicemembers, patients and family members at Dover Air Force Base, Del. have collected their own data.
The information can’t be pried out of the Department of Defense.
· Dr. Nass
“The absence of valid statistical data has been a stumbling
block for those interested in understanding how safe—or unsafe—the
anthrax vaccine really is,” said Dr. Meryl Nass of Freeport,
Maine. “The information can’t be pried out of the Department
of Defense.”
“So now,” she said recently, “the patients themselves
at Dover Air Force Base, Del., are initiating scientific studies
to gather the information we all need.”
Nass played a major role in forming a coalition that has fought the Pentagon’s controversial anthrax vaccine immunization program. She has consulted for the General Accounting Office, testified before the House Government Reform subcommittee on national security, veterans affairs and international relations and the House Armed Services Committee, and provided testimony to the Institute of Medicine.
Long Term Illness
According to Nass, members of the 9th Airlift Squadron at Dover
Air Force Base began receiving the anthrax shots in the early
autumn of 1998. Since then, she said, a number of individuals
have developed long-term illnesses and been removed from flight
status. Many other members say they have begun experiencing health
problems.
The Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) should reveal
such information, said Nass.
They have seen their peers removed from flying status because of medical problems and are unwilling to risk the same fate.
· Survey Authors
However, in conversation, many who are experiencing problems are
afraid to report their symptoms to the medical community, and
will not fill out a VAERS report, said the authors of the informal
survey. “They have seen their peers removed from flying status
because of medical problems and are unwilling to risk the same
fate.” the authors said.
In reaction to the dearth of data, servicemembers, hospital patients
and other parties at Dover drafted and distributed an unofficial
survey to learn the true extent of these problems.
Questions
A list of questions along with a cover letter was sent to the
home addresses of 265 squadron members, according to the survey
authors. The only members excluded were the administrative workers
who had not yet been vaccinated.
“It is obvious that this report has some limitations,”
the survey authors said, admitting that “causality cannot
be established” between the symptoms reported and the anthrax
vaccine because of the absence of a control group.
“Therefore, it would be impossible to scientifically conclude
that anthrax has caused these reported symptoms, or even that
the number of symptoms reported is higher than that experienced
by the general population. Additionally, no medical expert was
used in formulating the survey.”
Of the 265 surveys sent out, 139 (55 per cent) were returned. The subjects were asked: “From the time you received your first anthrax vaccination, have you started to experience any of the following symptoms?” The numbers following the symptoms are affirmative responses.
Ringing in the ears--12
Significant hearing loss--3
Skin rashes not near injection site--17
Itchy skin--21
Numbness/loss of sensation in body parts--16
Joint and/or muscle pain including arthritis--57
Loss of energy/constant tiredness--41
Recurring headaches--26
Difficulty sleeping--24
Nausea, loss of appetite or abdominal pain--9
Severe hair loss--8
Vertigo--8
Balance problems/light-headedness--15
Short-term memory loss--34
Reduced concentration--36
Chills and fever immediately following vaccine--11
Other--24
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